More Varied Binge Watching

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Alix Cohen in Playing Around

Call My Agent (French title Dix pour cent; in French: “Ten Percent”) in French with subtitles. For everyone in show biz and those who love to watch it satirized, this eminently credible, entertaining series centers on the Paris talent agency ASK, the private and personal lives of its competitive employees, vicissitudes of deal making, and the often colorful actors it represents. Each chapter features at least one well known French film or theater star. A light touch keeps it humming. On Netflix.

Brideshead Revisited (1981 VERSION) from the Evelyn Waugh novel. We follow middle class gentleman Charles Ryder (America’s introduction to Jeremy Irons), his deep, Oxford-born friendship with hedonist patrician, Sebastian Flyte (Anthony Andrews) and adoption by the colorful Flyte family from the 1920s through the 1940s. Like taking a long, warm bath through the era. Gorgeous to look at, rich characterization, rife with pathos. Marvelous cast including, in part, Diana Quick, Claire Bloom, Simon Jones. Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Stephane Audran.

Penny Dreadful A British American horror drama for those who appreciate cinematic artistry.Wealthy explorer Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) tries to save his daughter from possession by pure evil with the help of her friend, Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) whose unwitting connection to Hell becomes increasingly apparent.

In a single Victorian series, writers conceived the interaction of young Dr. Victor Frankenstein, his sympathetic creature and a beautiful wife created for the monster; Dorian Grey, a wolfman, vampires, demons…Satan. If you revel in the eternal battle against/attraction to evil, this one’s for you.  Research is historical and theological. Billie Piper, Josh Hartnett, Rory Kinnear, Reve Carney, Harry Treadaway, Simon Russell Beale, Helen McCrory

Penny Dreadfuls were a genre of 19th-century British fiction publications with lurid, sensational subject matter.

Anne Hathaway and Gary Carr (Photo Credit: Christopher Saunders/Amazon Studios)

Modern Love is based on the weekly column published by The New York Times. Eight short episodes unsuccessfully try to connect in the last, but stand well on their own. One about a paternal doorman is the all on favorite. Familial, romantic, sexual, and platonic love are presented by Christin Milioti and Brandon Victor Dixon, Anne Hathaway and Gary Carr, Catherine Keener and Dev Patel, Tina Fey and John Slattery, Sofia Boutella and John Gallagher Jr., Andrew Scott and Olivia Cooke, Julia Garner and Shea Whigham, Jane Alexander and James Saito. With some stories better than others, the collection is warm, sometimes charming, and occasionally very satisfying.

Top photo of “Call My Agent” courtesy of Netflix.

About Alix Cohen (1912 Articles)
Alix Cohen is the recipient of ten New York Press Club Awards for work published on this venue. Her writing history began with poetry, segued into lyrics and took a commercial detour while holding executive positions in product development, merchandising, and design. A cultural sponge, she now turns her diverse personal and professional background to authoring pieces about culture/the arts with particular interest in artists/performers and entrepreneurs. Theater, music, art/design are lifelong areas of study and passion. She is a voting member of Drama Desk and Drama League. Alix’s professional experience in women’s fashion fuels writing in that area. Besides Woman Around Town, the journalist writes for Cabaret Scenes, Broadway World, TheaterLife, and Theater Pizzazz. Additional pieces have been published by The New York Post, The National Observer’s Playground Magazine, Pasadena Magazine, Times Square Chronicles, and ifashionnetwork. She lives in Manhattan. Of course.

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